Forever Means Forever
by john4096
Summary: While out hunting, Mumble is visited by a face from his past. Except this time, he isn't so lucky.
1. Chapter 1

**Forever means forever**

He sped through the water, searching for fish. His swimming had improved drastically since he embarked upon his epic journey so long ago: he didn't have as many baby feathers to slow him down now, and he found that his split tail gave him a speed advantage over his contemporaries.

As he swam, an all-too-familiar blur streaked by him. Eager to speak to her, he arced backwards. She did the same, their combined wakes forming a perfect heart. As they leveled out, coming face to face with each other, Mumble opened his beak.

"Gloria…", he began, before finding himself lost for words.

She smiled. "Almost reminds me of that time, when we were younger, and you tried to talk to me. You were so shy, remember?". _And still, nothing's changed_ she thought.

Mumble blushed beneath the downy feathers covering his face, "Yeah, I remember. I never finished my sentence, did I?"

Gloria shook her head, "but you did, Mumble. You said I was very 'fish'". She laughed, gently mocking him.

He chuckled a little. "Well, that isn't what I meant to say. I meant to say—"

"—no", Gloria interjected. A look of confusion crept across Mumble's fluffy face. "I don't want you to ruin it", she explained, "That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

He frowned at her, "But…I called you a fish". He laughed some more, "surely someone's called you _something_ nicer before."

She smiled warmly into his bright, blue eyes. "Of course, Mumble. But you said it with such sincerity. The way your feelings were so strong, so honest, that you overcame your shyness to let me know…that you loved me for _me_. That, instead of commenting on how I look or how I sing, you commented on how I _am_. That, Mumble, is the nicest thing anyone has ever had the courage to do for me."

"Oh. You're welcome…I guess", Mumble replied, still a little confused. This time, Gloria laughed too.

As they stared passionately into each other's eyes, their heads crept forwards involuntarily—leaning inward ever so slowly. Just as their beaks were about to meet, a yell broke out a short distance from where Mumble and Gloria were speaking.

"Leopard Seal!"

Gloria's eyes widened in fear, her emotions reflected in Mumble's white, down-covered face.

They bolted, swerving in every direction. The other penguins that had been out hunting cut across their path periodically, frantically trying to escape the predator. Mumble and Gloria stuck together.

They swam in silent panic for a while, before an unnerving calm swept through the water. "Why don't I see anyone else?", Gloria asked Mumble, in confusion.

Just then, she felt something sharp snap down dangerously close to her tail. She didn't need to turn around: she could put two and two together.

"Mumble, behind us!", she shouted. Mumble didn't need to be told twice.

Just as things seemed as though they couldn't get any worse, a familiar voice thundered in their ears:

"I'll get you this time sausage!", the seal growled threateningly.

Mumble's beak split into a grin as he remembered the amigos taunting the beached seal. "Try to keep up, fatty!", Mumble said, poking fun at the seal that had given him the scars on his tail.

The two penguins continued to swim. They changed direction constantly in the hopes of shaking the seal, but to no avail. It struck again, barely missing Gloria's right flipper as she let out a scream, and then again, this time bringing its jaws down somewhere near Mumble, and his yell was added to hers. They needed to get out of the water quickly.

Gloria could see land ahead; they would just make it!

"Mumble, I can see the shore! Hurry!"

He didn't reply, but he must've understood because he began thrusting furiously through the water. As Gloria felt the seal make one last attempt at its prey, she leapt from the water, coming down hard on the ice. She heard Mumble's body thud to the ground behind her and emit a subsequent grunt.

Gloria began to walk away from the water, quickly putting as much distance as possible between her and the seal.

"Whew, that was too close Happy Feet", Gloria exclaimed, the adrenaline putting her in an ecstatic mood.

"What's the matter, twinkletoes? Did the big scary seal frighten you?".

Again, she received no response. She was a little confused, but not yet worried. She turned around and felt her spirits plummet.

"No…", she whispered, "MUMBLE!"

She ran as fast as her short legs would carry her towards the water's edge. There, Mumble lay on his back. A large gash in his side was dripping blood onto the ice, where a sizeable, crimson puddle had already formed.

"Ah…", Mumble groaned in agony.

"Mumble! It's okay! You'll be okay!", Gloria was hysterical. "We need to get help!" Her whole world was crashing down around her. It couldn't be, not Mumble!

Mumble drew a deep breath and tried hard to suppress his groans. His face was contorted with pain. We he spoke, though in a weak, raspy voice, he did so in a calm manner that unnerved Gloria: "It's too late Gloria. I'm not going to make it. But don't worry—you'll survive without me. You'll find someone else to care for you."

Gloria began to cry, "I don't want _someone else_, Mumble, I want _you_! We were supposed to be together forever!" She didn't want to think about a world without Mumble…there _was_ no world without Mumble.

Mumble remained silent for a while, drawing rattling breaths. "Forever…isn't such a long time, really." He was talking more to himself now, but Gloria took no notice.

She was beginning to become angry with Mumble and his wise demeanor. Why was he so resigned! He should be trying to get up! He should be telling her to go for help!

"No, Mumble, forever means forever! This is not how things were supposed to be!" Why was he giving up so easily?

Mumble just let out a long sigh. For a moment, the two just stayed there. Mumble was panting, his breathing becoming more difficult with each passing second. Gloria stood with her head bowed over the man she loved, her tears soaking into the baby feathers on his chest.

As Mumble's body began to shiver, he opened his beak: "I don't have much time left, Gloria—" Mumble began, but she cut him off.

"Don't speak like that, Mumble! Let me go get help! You're going to be okay! We'll grow old together! We'll have an egg! We'll be a family!"

Mumble's eyes began to water. He continued as if he hadn't heard her: "—but before I go, Gloria, I just wanted to say…" his voice was barely audible.

"you're so…fish."

His eyelids slowly began to droop over the pale blue spheres that had stolen Gloria's heart, never to open again. He died in the hands of the one who cared for him more than any other.

Gloria stood there, mourning over his body for hours. Her brain told her he was gone but her heart simply wouldn't accept it. Of all the penguins that meet this fate every year, why did it have to be him?

Finally, when darkness began to cast a shadow over the icy waters, she gave Mumble one last kiss before leaving his side, never to return. As she left, she sang a final goodbye:

_From the back of your big blue eyes  
__I knew you'd be gone as soon as you could  
__And I hoped you would_

_I could see that you weren't yourself  
__And the lines on your side did tell  
__It's just as well  
__You'd never be yourself again_

_Saw you last night  
__Dance by the light of the moon  
__Stars in your eyes  
__Free from the life that you knew_

_You're the magic that holds the sky up from the ground  
__You're the breath that blows these cool winds 'round  
__Trade places with an angel now  
__  
Saw you last night  
__Dance by the light of the moon  
__Stars in your eyes  
__Free from the life that you knew  
__  
Saw you last night  
__Stars in the sky  
__Smiled up at you_


	2. Chapter 2

Gloria stopped eating in the days following the incident. She was determined that she would soon join Mumble, dance with him again. Such was her longing that she rarely spoke to anyone. She had stopped singing altogether; so immense was the weight pressing on her heart that it squeezed the music right out of her.

She saw a small procession of penguins approaching her from a distance. They had made a habit of trying to lift her spirits. She waited as the figures of Lovelace, Ramon, Lombardo, Rinaldo, Nestor, and Raul became sharper and sharper. When they arrived, Nestor was the first to speak:

"Gloria? Are you feeling better today?"

Gloria had complained frequently of stomach pains and headaches. Though she often used them as an excuse to be alone, they were quite real. The incident had broken something inside her, she thought.

"Don't worry, Gloria, Ramon is here for you!" Ramon earned himself a cuff across the back of his head from Rinaldo.

"Shut up, Ramon!", turning back to Gloria with an exasperated look on his face, Rinaldo tried to comfort her, "Gloria, we know how you feel—"

"No, you don't", Gloria replied coldly, "You were his friends, nothing more. None of you ever _loved_ Mumble like I did…like I _do_."

The amigos looked a little awkward at this.

"But I love _you_, Gloria!", Ramon tried a second time, this time getting hit by both Raul and Lombardo.

"Why do we even take you with us anymore?" Raul asked.

"Mumble's dead, and all you can think about is trying to steal his chica?", Lombardo was disgusted.

The amigos were still together and joked around with each other as usual, but the loss of Mumble made them disorganized, and they were quick to jump down each other's throats.

"It's not my fault!", Ramon pleaded, "I never had a good relationship in my life! Everyone I ever love is _dead_!" With that, Ramon sulked off, crying. They heard snippets of his past as he left: "Papa, I told you that was a real skua, I did!…Why, Celeste? What did I ever do to make you jump into that killer whale's mouth?…"

In a way, Gloria was glad that the amigos hadn't changed much. It gave her a little hope to know that they, at least, remained constant in this world—this world, which now seemed so uncertain to her.

"Look Gloria", Lovelace began, "it hasn't been easy for anybody. We _all_ loved Mumble in one way or another. Think of Memphis and Norma Jean. It was just as hard, if not harder, for them. But you need to get over it. It's been months since Mumble left us, 'Guin rest his soul, and you've done nothing but stand here feeling sorry for yourself!"

Gloria felt ashamed. She had nothing to say to that. She knew she was being selfish, and she hated it. But she simply could not pretend to be happy; she could not pretend that everything was back to normal, that every thing was fine.

She just shook her head and turned her back on her company. They remained for a short while longer before giving up and returning to Adelie Land. She knew they would return—if not tomorrow, then the next day—and a very similar conversation would take place.

Now she felt angry with Mumble. He had it so easy. He didn't have to sit here and be bombarded with all kinds of mixed emotions. While he was free and happy somewhere else, she had to contend with the sorrow of losing her mate, the guilt of avoiding Memphis and Norma Jean when they needed comforting…and now this envy for Mumble. Why couldn't it have been her instead? She'd like to see how _he'd_ deal with things, that stupid, stubborn, arrogant fool!

God, she missed him.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Gloria heard the familiar sounds of feet climbing the small hill to her nest. She turned, ready to see the amigos approaching—ready for them to try to cheer her up again.

To her surprise, it was Noah, the chief elder.

"Noah, I…I wasn't expecting you", Gloria was put off-guard a little by his appearance.

"I have been informed that you've stopped eating. That you've given up on life." The elder began. Gloria was confused, Noah had never shown special interest in her before.

"What point is there in moving on?" Gloria replied with conviction, "I'll never be happy again."

Noah looked very sternly into Gloria's eyes, "You know, you remind me of another penguin who had once felt that his life was not worth living. He was depressed and lonely, without a friend in the world….", Noah paused. "You know who I'm talking about. If it weren't for you, Mumble would have likely died a much earlier death—if not a leopard seal, depression would have claimed his life. And worse, still, he would have died alone. You gave him that which he, and the majority of us others, thought would be permanently out of his reach: happiness."

"So now, here you stand. Mumble having confessed to you in his last moments of life how much you meant to him. Do you think that he wanted you to leave there that day, and just give up?"

Gloria looked away, ashamed.

"He never gave up on you…or his parents…or even me, the fool that I am. He sought to bring about a better future for all of us. His death is a tragedy of epic proportions, but it is nothing compared to the horrible waste that would result from you simply withering away—"

Gloria was confused. What had she done that would make her death so significant? And why was it that Noah, of all people, was the one pointing it out to her? He had never spoken to her one on one before…

"Look", Gloria interrupted, "I get that you want me to start eating again…and singing again…and to pretend that everything is the same as it always was. But what difference will it make?"

Noah smiled, pulling the final trick from his sleeve, "You've noticed that you haven't been feeling quite well recently—"

"How do you expect me to feel after my mortally wounded mate bleeds to death right before my eyes!" Gloria snapped.

Noah continued, "—you haven't been feeling well lately, because you are no longer just Gloria. If you continue to starve yourself, you will be starving another—one who could prove a great asset to our colony…"

Gloria's eyes widened in shock. "You mean we…Mumble and I…I'm…"

"You'd better see if you can find a close friend before winter comes, because you're going to need someone reliable to watch that egg."

Noah grinned at her one more time before turning to take his leave. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "then again, if Mumble is any indication, we could all stand to drop our eggs every now and then."

Gloria was all the more confused after receiving the news. She had always thought the nausea, the headaches, the stomach pain—that they were all just physical symptoms triggered by her emotional distress. She had forgotten, in light of recent events, that she and Mumble _had_ been intending to have an egg.

Once more, her head spun with all of the conflicting emotions. She still wanted, desperately, to see Mumble again…but she couldn't just leave her egg behind! _I bet it'll look just like him when it hatches_, she thought.

That settled it.

She would have to wait to see Mumble…have to wait for the egg to hatch. She would have to raise the chick, watch it grow.

She would have to wait an eternity.

But now she understood what Mumble had told her. It would be forever before she could see him again…but then again, forever isn't very long at all.

* * *

Well, yet another Mumble-death-scenario story. I think this will be my last dark Happy Feet story...for now. I'm fairly satisified that I lightened things up near the end, though. Please read and review! I'm currently working on another Happy Feet story, so any input would help it be the best it can be!

As a side-note, I remembered to mention that I neither own Happy Feet nor the song Gloria sings ("Magic" by Ben Folds Five). However, I did alter a few of the lyrics to fit better with the story. At best I can claim ownership over this exact order and combination of letters.

I almost forgot to mention the portrayal of Noah the Elder. Obviously, Noah is placed in a very negative light in the movie. However, I can't help but feel that he was simply faced with a tough situation and a lot of pressure. After all, there must be some reason he's the leader (okay, he does seem to be the oldest, but humor me). I thought it would be interesting to paint Noah in a more positive picture in this story—a sort of Dumbledore-/Frieda-like character. So there you have it.


End file.
